Man Makes Plans
by Mai Kusakabe
Summary: When he left after sending his letter, there were things Sabo didn't think about. Now he's faced with the consequences of what he failed to consider.


This story was born during a conversation with Anjelle about Sabo and possible theories about him, and I couldn't resist writing it. She convinced me to post it, so here we are :) I hope you like it (and, if you don't, remember that I warned you xD)

Beta'd by The Red Harlequin On The Luna.

I'll put the spoilers warning, though I don't think at this point it's necessary. Who doesn't know, suspects it, but here we are.

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><p><strong>Man Makes Plans<strong>

The large group of pirates that had been enjoying themselves at the bar hadn't worried at first when one of their crewmates had come in running, almost out of breath, and had yelled that Ace was fighting someone, but some of them had decided to go have a look just in case. The way they had met the young pirate, after all, had made it clear Ace had no problem picking fights with ridiculously strong people.

It didn't seem to be the case.

They reached the town's plaza just to see it half destroyed, swirling columns of smoke coming from the demolished walls that had obviously taken some of Ace's attacks, the horrified citizens standing at the openings to the different streets, their gazes fixated to the middle of the destruction.

There was Ace, straddling an unidentified body and beating it, not making use of his fire ability and instead to using just his fists. The sound of knuckles hitting skin and bone could be heard over the otherwise almost deathly silent plaza, accompanied at almost every impact by the pained grunts of the person under Ace and Ace's almost constant string of yelled insults and curses. He didn't seem to have a great opinion of the other man.

Some crewmembers advanced towards Ace, probably to pry him away from the defenseless victim, but Marco, who was part of the group, raised an arm to stop them.

He received many questioned looks, but simply ignored them and kept his eyes on the pair. The man, because now there was no doubt the one on the ground was a man, hadn't made a single attempt to defend himself.

Finally, Ace's blows started to slow down until they finally came to a halt, and the insults, that had been decreasing in volume as time passed, stopped as well, his heavy panting the only sound left to be heard.

Then, the man on the ground spoke:

"Feeling better?"

Those who could see Ace's face, bent down as it was, noticed the bitter and almost sad grin that stretched his lips.

"Somewhat." Answered the pirate.

"Good."

And a chorus of surprised gasps filled the place when the man on the ground raised his arm and punched Ace with enough strength to send him flying across the plaza and slamming into a wall that crumbled at the strength of the collision. It took several seconds for the bystanders to realize the man had managed to touch Ace, and by then said man was already on his feet, what seemed to be a pipe in both hands, and parrying one of Ace's kicks.

"You fucking bastard!" Ace yelled, diving under the pipe to aim a punch at the man's face. It connected, just as the same time as a booted foot did the same with the freckled man's face.

The combatants pulled back, stared at each other for a short second, and attacked again.

Ace's flames disappeared from around his arm, the pipe fell to the ground, and the two men dropped to their knees, face to face. The hand that had been aimed to hurt the unknown man moved instead to wrap around said man's shoulders, the other arm going to encircle the waist, and the man raised his arms as well, closing them around Ace's torso.

It was then, when Ace rested his head on the man's shoulder, that the bystanders noticed for the first time the tears falling down his face, even though they had been there all along. Ace muttered something and, seeing the shaking of the second man's shoulders, he wasn't the only one crying.

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><p>The Whitebeard Pirates hadn't wasted the opportunity to throw a party, but they had respected the two men's space and let them alone, with plenty of food and drinks at hand, to talk.<p>

Sabo watched with an amused smile how the fearsome pirates fooled around and finally broke the silence that had been present since Ace had explained the incident at the plaza and the pirates had decide to throw an impromptu party.

"You've found a good crew."

"Yeah."

Silence again. His brother hadn't spoken more than monosyllables to him once he had recovered from his rage and following breakdown.

"Listen, Ace," Sabo spoke again, eyes intent on his mug because he was unable to face Ace's sad eyes, "I'm sorry, I can't really say how much I am, I doubt there are even words for it, I wouldn't have waited so long if I had known-" A hand on his shoulder silenced him.

"It's fine, I know."

Sabo's eyes filled with tears again. He had been prepared for Ace to punch him, even for a full beating, he had accepted that he deserved it after not saying goodbye properly. But he hadn't been expecting what received him.

"_Y-You died…"_

Those words, accompanied by Ace's wide eyed, white face had shaken him to the core. In all these years, Sabo had imagined his brothers' angry, even teary in Luffy's case, reactions when he saw them again, but never, not even once, had he considered the possibility that they knew about the incident with the Tenryuubito ship.

"Stop crying, you're acting like Luffy."

Sabo raised his head at that, and felt immensely glad that Ace now looked far more composed. The sadness was still there in his eyes, but at least he didn't seem lost anymore. He was his angry brother again, an angry brother that seemed to be able to smile more easily now.

"How is he?"

Ace grinned.

"Still a weakling."

Sabo let out a chuckle at that and Ace joined him. Soon they were laughing hysterically at nothing and everything at the same time.

It felt even better than he had thought to be back with his brother, and Sabo couldn't even imagine how good it would be when the three of them could be back together again.

"What have you been up to, anyway? You're not a pirate, I would've seen your wanted poster and gone to beat the shit out of you already if you were." Ace asked once their laughter was back under control.

Sabo thought it was great to see him grin so easily.

"I'm a revolutionary."

"Really?" His brother asked, genuinely surprised.

Sabo nodded, grinning back at him.

"Yeah. That day with the Tenryuubito ship, it was Dragon who saved me."

"Do you like it?"

"I love it. It's the freedom I always wanted." Sabo answered, and knew the pride he felt at his life shone on his face.

Ace nodded and raised him mug, emptying his contents in a long swig that proved how accustomed he was to the motion.

"And what about you? This crew seems great, I won't deny that. But tell me, Ace, are you happy not being the captain?" Sabo asked, though he was sure of the answer. After all, he had already seen how at ease Ace with them, something he had only seem before when Ace was with Luffy or Sabo.

Ace smiled, and Sabo marveled once more at how much his brother had changed in that regard. It was a good change, Sabo had always thought Ace was made to smile.

"I can live with it."

They fell back into a comfortable silence that lasted until a full tray of food had been cleared.

"So," Ace spoke at last, "what now?"

"Now, we wait until Luffy sets sail. I owe him an apology, and I'll let him give me a good beating too, even if he's still a weakling. Then, I think we have a lot to catch up too, don't you think?"

"Yeah." Ace looked up and leaned back until he was laying on the ground. "We could go on some crazy adventure, the three of us. For old times' sake."

"Sounds like a great plan."

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><p>And this is it. Also, the title has a second part:<p>

Man Makes Plans, God Laughs.

It was Luna's idea, so go yell at her :D

(What? What?! NO! Don't yell at me! DX)

And leave a review :)


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